Uwa tana dafa miya kuma yara suna wasa a cikin gida.

Mother is cooking soup and the children are playing inside the house.

Breakdown of Uwa tana dafa miya kuma yara suna wasa a cikin gida.

• ne: to be
• gida: the house
• dafa: to cook
• yaro: the child
• uwa: the mother
• wasa: to play
• a cikin: inside
• miya: the soup
• kuma: also

Questions & Answers about Uwa tana dafa miya kuma yara suna wasa a cikin gida.

What does Uwa mean exactly? Is it “a mother”, “the mother”, or “my mother”?

Uwa means “mother” in a general sense. Hausa does not use separate words for “a/the” like English. Context tells you whether it feels like “a mother” or “the mother”.

If you want to be specific:

• uwata = my mother
• uwarsa / uwarta = his / her mother

In the sentence Uwa tana dafa miya, it will usually be understood as “(the) mother is cooking soup”, often meaning our/my mother from context.

What does tana mean, and why not just ta?

tana is a combined form:

• ta = she (3rd person feminine subject pronoun)
• na = a marker for progressive / continuous / habitual aspect

ta + na → tana

So tana dafa miya literally is “she-ASP cook soup”, understood as “she is cooking soup” or “she cooks soup (regularly)”.

Using only ta dafa miya would usually be “she cooked soup” (completed action).

What does dafa mean? Is it just “cook”?

dafa means “to cook (by boiling/stewing)”.

It often appears with things like:

• dafa miya – to cook soup/stew
• dafa shinkafa – to cook rice

There is also a more general noun girki (cooking, food preparation), e.g. ta na yin girki – she is doing the cooking, but in this sentence dafa is the specific verb used.

What is miya? Is it exactly “soup”?

miya is a soup/stew that is eaten with staples like tuwo, fura, etc.

In English it’s often translated as “soup” or “stew”, but in Hausa food culture miya is usually a sauce-like dish eaten with something else, not a light Western-style soup in a bowl by itself.

What does kuma mean here, and where can it go in the sentence?

kuma most often means “and”, “and also”, or sometimes “but/whereas” depending on context.

In Uwa tana dafa miya kuma yara suna wasa a cikin gida it links two clauses:

• Uwa tana dafa miya – Mother is cooking soup
• yara suna wasa a cikin gida – the children are playing in the house

You can also move kuma:

• Uwa tana dafa miya, yara kuma suna wasa a cikin gida.
  – Mother is cooking soup, and the children are playing in the house.

Here kuma emphasizes the contrast/parallel between Mother and the children.

What is the difference between tana and suna?

Both are subject pronoun + aspect marker combinations:

• tana = ta + na

  • ta = she
  • na = progressive/habitual marker

• suna = su + na

  • su = they
  • na = progressive/habitual marker

So:

• Uwa tana dafa miya – Mother (she) is cooking soup.
• yara suna wasa – The children (they) are playing.

What does yara mean, and what is the singular form?

yara means “children” (plural). The singular is yaro, meaning “child” (typically boy, but often used generically for child in many contexts).

• yaro – a child
• yara – children

It’s an irregular plural: yaro → yara, not yaros or yaro‑yi.

Is there a separate word for “are” in yara suna wasa?

No separate word for “are”. The function of “are” in “the children are playing” is covered by suna:

• su = they
• na = progressive/habitual aspect

So yara suna wasa literally behaves like “children they-PROG play”, which we translate as “the children are playing”.

Is wasa a verb or a noun here?

Formally, wasa is a verbal noun meaning “play, playing, game”.

The pattern (subject) + (pronoun+na) + verbal noun is very common in Hausa to express continuous or habitual actions:

• yara suna wasa – the children are playing (literally: children they-ASP play)
• Ina karatu. – I am studying/reading. (karatu = study/reading)

So wasa is a verbal noun functioning like an English -ing form (playing).

What does a cikin gida mean? Why both a and cikin?

a cikin gida literally breaks down as:

• a – a general preposition, often “in, at, on”
• cikin – “inside (of)”
• gida – “house, home”

Together a cikin gida = “inside the house” / “in the house”.

You can also see:

• a gida – at home / in the house
• cikin gida – inside the house (without a, in some contexts)

Using a cikin gida is a common, clear way to say “in the house”.

Can the word order be changed, like putting the children’s clause first?

Yes, you can swap the two clauses while keeping the meaning:

• Yara suna wasa a cikin gida kuma Uwa tana dafa miya.
  – The children are playing in the house and Mother is cooking soup.

The basic clause word order inside each part stays S–V–(O/other):

• Uwa (S) tana dafa (V) miya (O)
• yara (S) suna wasa (V) a cikin gida (locative phrase)

Does tana dafa miya mean “is cooking right now” or “usually cooks”?

tana dafa miya can mean both; na (in tana) marks a continuous/habitual aspect, so context decides:

• Right now:
  
  • What is Mother doing? – Uwa tana dafa miya. – Mother is cooking soup.
• Habit/routine:
  
  • Every evening, Mother cooks soup. – Kullum da yamma, Uwa tana dafa miya.

If you specifically want a completed past action, you would normally use ta dafa miya – she cooked soup (and finished).

Why is there no word for “the” before Uwa, yara, or gida?

Hausa does not have a separate definite article like English “the”. Nouns are usually bare, and context shows whether they are definite or indefinite:

• Uwa – a/the mother
• yara – children / the children
• gida – a house / the house / home

If the participants are already known in the conversation, English will often use “the”, while Hausa just uses the plain noun.